So the basic premise is that we initiate a somewhat formal race-class-region based system to replace the current disorganized faction-based one.

A person picks a race, which comes with a set of skills and equipment, then they migrate to a favored starting region and build a single community there. I figure three factions with greatly varying doctrines would be enough at first, and if we get more players later on we can divide them further. Each race will either live among the others or dependently if it suits them.

Kingdoms:

The North Holds: Cold and harsh lands to the far north, a place of hardy Nords, druidic Wood Elves, and mighty Stone Dwarf Holds.

The Middle Realms: Temperate forested realms between the north and south extremes, a realm of mercantile Humans, High-Elven courts, and Stone Dwarven Communities.

The South Lands: Arid or tropical lands south of the middle lands, an expanse of strong-willed and sly-tongued Men, nomadic Drow, and haughty Hill Dwarves.

Playable Races:

Men: Adaptable agrarian folk suited to many walks of life. Lives in villages and favors rule of strong patriarchal leaders. Proficient at all trades to a degree; favors diplomacy well. Sets out with Iron/Stone Sword, Iron/Stone Axe, Leather helmet and chest-plate, bucket, stack of seeds and stone hoe.

Elves: Forest dwelling naturalists who favor art and beauty. Lives in tree-top villages or small collectives among the roots. Proficient at Alchemy, Magic, and Music. Favors rule of matriarchal druids. Sets out with Iron/Stone Sword, Bow and stack of arrows, leather chest-plate and boots, bucket, and stack of saplings.

Dwarves: Mountain and hill living masons and craftsmen who favor courage and hard work over most else. Proficient at Masonry and Enchanting, also talented brewers. Favored ruling body is a council of elders. Sets out with Iron/Stone Sword, Iron/Stone Pickaxe, Chainmail helmet and chest-plate, bucket, and two half-stacks of red and brown mushrooms.

Well, Vera's been disbanded. Zhelvolk and Wiedzmin are all that's left.

They can be rebuilt when the server goes back up. I trust you folks not to mess with any of vera's stuff, and I will know if anyone does break rules via certain plugins.

I sort of actually like the race-class-region sort of thing, but there are two problems:

1: No plugins. We would need a customized plugin, and tobba can't do one. If we find a dedicated plugin creator or something that can make custom classes, it may work.

2: Customization. I think the most popular and drawing thing is the idea that factions can do almost anything, but that can be a downfall. I like the idea of different factions from the get-go, but it would eventually turn into the same old "make cool buildings, get tons of diamonds". I would predict that all these nations would eventually turn out to be the same, since they have defense and fortification down to a science. If we limited these people by saying they could only have a certain sort of architectural design or general mechanics, such as saying they would have to be only in treetops, that could give people advantages or disadvantages, and leave a lot of the customization we all know and love behind.

Personally, I'm fine with defined classes and forcing people to be withing a certain bound of style, but it would require a map reset, a lot of beta playtesting, and a metric ton of more players.

Plugins and preparation I see us needing

A boundary plugin: I've always wanted this, as it would increase tensions to explore before other people would find things and generally aquire land, but popular opinion rules on this one. We could always test it out beforehand and see the reaction. This would also allow different climates around the map, so a big blanket of //overlay snow could make 1/3 of the map completely snow.

3 days of preparation: I've been developing a single-player map, and have gotten a lot better in terms of using Worldedit, and can create awesome biomes and varied structures. With enough people, we could make a diverse and original world for people to inhabit, but it would take time.

PEOPLE: Again, we need people. We just don't have enough players on at a given time to have wars and major diplomacy.

2: Customization. I think the most popular and drawing thing is the idea that factions can do almost anything, but that can be a downfall. I like the idea of different factions from the get-go, but it would eventually turn into the same old "make cool buildings, get tons of diamonds". I would predict that all these nations would eventually turn out to be the same, since they have defense and fortification down to a science. If we limited these people by saying they could only have a certain sort of architectural design or general mechanics, such as saying they would have to be only in treetops, that could give people advantages or disadvantages, and leave a lot of the customization we all know and love behind.

We discussed this a bit and came to the conclusion that the problem isn't how much you limit the freedom of building, but rather how intriguing and welcoming you can make the different "factions" on the server. The problem with the server as it is now is that people wish to go on and do their own thing because it's hard to become an integrated part of the already established groups. We think that it's possible to artificially remove this problem by creating pre-sets (and we also discussed allowing "alien" races and cultures to become a part of the world on a permission-basis, a lot like the factions have worked up until now; Daniel didn't include it in the previous post since it would only become a "problem" once the server gets populated if we manage the integration part in a good way).

Personally, I'm fine with defined classes and forcing people to be withing a certain bound of style, but it would require a map reset, a lot of beta playtesting, and a metric ton of more players.

We weren't being very clear about that part I suppose. Yes our idea would require a map reset, but we think that this is necessary for the survival of the server (not to mention the new biome and world gen updates being very needed, like naturally growing red roses, interesting nether, the end, updated swamp- and snow- biomes). It is supposed to be RP, not a free build server (something that already exists on the server through the building rules, we just propose localized building rules). Most parts of the world right now is just a huge ghost town, it was made huge in hopes of a future that didn't come true. "Our" model would be a lot more realistic, and would follow the "supply and demand" type of building. Which, whilst intriguing, won't over saturate the world at once -- more usage of WorldEdit would also be a nice addition (we were planning on adding more RP events through the use of faction-related moderators, this wasn't included in the previous post either for different reasons). The population argument I kinda "answered" earlier too, the map as it is right now is far too empty, most parts of the world is ghost-towns and ghost-houses, the problem of the server being unpopulated goes both ways.

The reason we want a more structured form of RP is also because it will appeal to people a lot more (we think), since structure and organization isn't something minecraft is well known for (different is cool and all that jazz). Free-building and creativity won't be hindered, since it's the essence of the game, but it will be directed. Honing your skills in building a specific type of architectural style is just as rewarding as just plonking blocks down and hoping it will turn out to be a house. As a practical example I'd like to refer to Skaal, which had a very strict building code and still kept people interested, simply because of the integration into the community it provided.

A boundary plugin: I've always wanted this, as it would increase tensions to explore before other people would find things and generally aquire land, but popular opinion rules on this one. We could always test it out beforehand and see the reaction. This would also allow different climates around the map, so a big blanket of //overlay snow could make 1/3 of the map completely snow.

3 days of preparation: I've been developing a single-player map, and have gotten a lot better in terms of using Worldedit, and can create awesome biomes and varied structures. With enough people, we could make a diverse and original world for people to inhabit, but it would take time.

PEOPLE: Again, we need people. We just don't have enough players on at a given time to have wars and major diplomacy.

I don't think a boundary plugin would be needed really, and it would kinda limit a new RP-structural building rule that me and Dan are putting together (trying to invoke living economies in the world through demand and supply, again) that would also make war a lot more dynamic.

Preparation would obviously be needed, and it would probably be needed in a "cheat-y" way, creating some very basic towns for people to start off in. I don't really see how this is a problem however, since the people involved will have fun doing it (fun being the reason we play) plus it wouldn't be overdone nor take very long. The server should also be "progressive" or "fluent" in the sense that RP events pop up and go from time to time, to keep interest up. You shouldn't be able to pop in and see everything the server will ever have to offer at once. Your artifact initiative, the Tunnel Guardian story line and the Stone Forest are good examples of how the world would progress with time.

Sorry for the hoooge response, but we wish to see the server live on and we believe that the system we're developing for it's revival may be one of the answers to it.

We discussed this a bit and came to the conclusion that the problem isn't how much you limit the freedom of building, but rather how intriguing and welcoming you can make the different "factions" on the server. The problem with the server as it is now is that people wish to go on and do their own thing because it's hard to become an integrated part of the already established groups. We think that it's possible to artificially remove this problem by creating pre-sets (and we also discussed allowing "alien" races and cultures to become a part of the world on a permission-basis, a lot like the factions have worked up until now; Daniel didn't include it in the previous post since it would only become a "problem" once the server gets populated if we manage the integration part in a good way).

We weren't being very clear about that part I suppose. Yes our idea would require a map reset, but we think that this is necessary for the survival of the server (not to mention the new biome and world gen updates being very needed, like naturally growing red roses, interesting nether, the end, updated swamp- and snow- biomes). It is supposed to be RP, not a free build server (something that already exists on the server through the building rules, we just propose localized building rules). Most parts of the world right now is just a huge ghost town, it was made huge in hopes of a future that didn't come true. "Our" model would be a lot more realistic, and would follow the "supply and demand" type of building. Which, whilst intriguing, won't over saturate the world at once -- more usage of WorldEdit would also be a nice addition (we were planning on adding more RP events through the use of faction-related moderators, this wasn't included in the previous post either for different reasons). The population argument I kinda "answered" earlier too, the map as it is right now is far too empty, most parts of the world is ghost-towns and ghost-houses, the problem of the server being unpopulated goes both ways.

The reason we want a more structured form of RP is also because it will appeal to people a lot more (we think), since structure and organization isn't something minecraft is well known for (different is cool and all that jazz). Free-building and creativity won't be hindered, since it's the essence of the game, but it will be directed. Honing your skills in building a specific type of architectural style is just as rewarding as just plonking blocks down and hoping it will turn out to be a house. As a practical example I'd like to refer to Skaal, which had a very strict building code and still kept people interested, simply because of the integration into the community it provided.

I don't think a boundary plugin would be needed really, and it would kinda limit a new RP-structural building rule that me and Dan are putting together (trying to invoke living economies in the world through demand and supply, again) that would also make war a lot more dynamic.

Preparation would obviously be needed, and it would probably be needed in a "cheat-y" way, creating some very basic towns for people to start off in. I don't really see how this is a problem however, since the people involved will have fun doing it (fun being the reason we play) plus it wouldn't be overdone nor take very long. The server should also be "progressive" or "fluent" in the sense that RP events pop up and go from time to time, to keep interest up. You shouldn't be able to pop in and see everything the server will ever have to offer at once. Your artifact initiative, the Tunnel Guardian story line and the Stone Forest are good examples of how the world would progress with time.

Sorry for the hoooge response, but we wish to see the server live on and we believe that the system we're developing for it's revival may be one of the answers to it.

I've also considered the other less ideal option; that being that all Age of Miners simply move to a larger server like Lord of the Mine and work together on a single faction and dominate the rest with our superior building and RPing skills.

I've also considered the other less ideal option; that being that all Age of Miners simply move to a larger server like Lord of the Mine and work together on a single faction and dominate the rest with our superior building and RPing skills.

They've got some really strict applications. I tried applying with my character, I thought I had everything perfect, and they denied it because "Ame isn't an existing civilization on this map". I explained to them that it was from a far, far away land that isn't part of Aegis. They responded with "It can't not be part of the land because Aegis is the land".

Just because a server looks flashy and populated, doesn't always mean that it's good.

Or hell, lets try to give the server as different of an identity as possible from AOM, for some reason AOM has some sort of stigma with a sizable portion of the Facepunch MC SMP RP community in my experience talking to others on here. Keep most of it as is, but it needs a new identity to drop that stigma that some people associate with us. Might want to have Dragory or Osku make the OP so people don't realize it's a renamed AOM at first glance by seeing Chez's name.

Also, our map as of now is slightly bland, and lacks features added as of 1.0, so I believe this is a valid reason to reset. I'd say keep the factions (Maybe cut Malleus since it is DEAD in every regard) though.

We discussed this a bit and came to the conclusion that the problem isn't how much you limit the freedom of building, but rather how intriguing and welcoming you can make the different "factions" on the server. The problem with the server as it is now is that people wish to go on and do their own thing because it's hard to become an integrated part of the already established groups. We think that it's possible to artificially remove this problem by creating pre-sets (and we also discussed allowing "alien" races and cultures to become a part of the world on a permission-basis, a lot like the factions have worked up until now; Daniel didn't include it in the previous post since it would only become a "problem" once the server gets populated if we manage the integration part in a good way).

We weren't being very clear about that part I suppose. Yes our idea would require a map reset, but we think that this is necessary for the survival of the server (not to mention the new biome and world gen updates being very needed, like naturally growing red roses, interesting nether, the end, updated swamp- and snow- biomes). It is supposed to be RP, not a free build server (something that already exists on the server through the building rules, we just propose localized building rules). Most parts of the world right now is just a huge ghost town, it was made huge in hopes of a future that didn't come true. "Our" model would be a lot more realistic, and would follow the "supply and demand" type of building. Which, whilst intriguing, won't over saturate the world at once -- more usage of WorldEdit would also be a nice addition (we were planning on adding more RP events through the use of faction-related moderators, this wasn't included in the previous post either for different reasons). The population argument I kinda "answered" earlier too, the map as it is right now is far too empty, most parts of the world is ghost-towns and ghost-houses, the problem of the server being unpopulated goes both ways.

The reason we want a more structured form of RP is also because it will appeal to people a lot more (we think), since structure and organization isn't something minecraft is well known for (different is cool and all that jazz). Free-building and creativity won't be hindered, since it's the essence of the game, but it will be directed. Honing your skills in building a specific type of architectural style is just as rewarding as just plonking blocks down and hoping it will turn out to be a house. As a practical example I'd like to refer to Skaal, which had a very strict building code and still kept people interested, simply because of the integration into the community it provided.

I don't think a boundary plugin would be needed really, and it would kinda limit a new RP-structural building rule that me and Dan are putting together (trying to invoke living economies in the world through demand and supply, again) that would also make war a lot more dynamic.

Preparation would obviously be needed, and it would probably be needed in a "cheat-y" way, creating some very basic towns for people to start off in. I don't really see how this is a problem however, since the people involved will have fun doing it (fun being the reason we play) plus it wouldn't be overdone nor take very long. The server should also be "progressive" or "fluent" in the sense that RP events pop up and go from time to time, to keep interest up. You shouldn't be able to pop in and see everything the server will ever have to offer at once. Your artifact initiative, the Tunnel Guardian story line and the Stone Forest are good examples of how the world would progress with time.

Sorry for the hoooge response, but we wish to see the server live on and we believe that the system we're developing for it's revival may be one of the answers to it.

What you described sounds great, and I personally would love it. What does everyone else think? Should this be implemented?